Card Game - Karuta

King woke up early the following day, despite being tired from yesterday and wanting to sleep a bit more.

He was "touched" by Charanko's diligence. Charanko started his training early in the morning, practicing basic skills taught by his Master Bang in the yard. It's fine if he simply trained, but he also shouted "hum" and "ha," disturbing people's dreams.

Most people would not be able to last long in this dojo. Those who could last for a while would definitely enter a trance from the lack of sleep, becoming a national treasure—a panda.

King had no choice but to wake up and wash his face. Outside, he found Bang sitting in the corridor of the dojo like an old monk, supervising Charanko's training.

"Morning, Silver Fang!"

Heroes generally call each other by their Hero Names unless their relationship is close. Obviously, the relationship between King and Bang was not close enough to call each other by their real name.

What? Do you think King is disrespectful for calling a grandpa like Bang without honorifics? Please, Child Emperor has always called Bang "Silver Fang," and nobody called him rude. Calling each other by the Hero Name had become a kind of unspoken rule between Heroes.

"Oh, King, you're up? Are you preparing for daily exercise?" Bang's eyes lit up when he saw King.

"Yes, that's right." King nodded. He looked at Charanko, who was sweating profusely, with a slight pity. Charanko had trained hard day after day for a year. King would never be able to persevere like that.

"Oh, should I take advantage of this time to exercise?" He suddenly had such a thought. He could rampage and devastate without worry by relying on System, but now he discovered that System was prone to fatal errors and needed sleep to repair them. From being a godlike being with wind and rain in his hands to being a powerless otaku, this gap in power made him want to cry!

In order to have a certain level of strength even without System, he decided to strengthen his body. But, what kind of exercise should he do to strengthen his body?

Pull-ups?

Sit-ups?

Squats?

Running around the mountains?

King thought about it and decided on... Tai Chi. Well, this is also a traditional body-strengthening exercise. We have to carry on our cultural heritage.

Sigh, he had been an otaku for too long. He did not want to touch those intense exercises at all. It would be too tiring.

Bang did not pry into King's exercise. Spying on other people's techniques was taboo for martial artists. As a grandmaster, he could not do such an outrageous act.

If he were to see King's slow and relaxing movement behind him, surely he would be shocked!

After doing a set of exercises in the morning, King felt really refreshed. The old grandpas in his previous life did not lie; Tai Chi really has a special effect on strengthening the body and blood circulation.

...

After breakfast, Bang called King to the dojo to feel the atmosphere—and to play games.

Although King did not understand what playing games had to do with the atmosphere of the dojo, he was looking forward to it. Everything in the dojo was good, but it was too boring. Charanko's endless training was basically the only thing going on. The scenery was good, but unfortunately, he lacked a girlfriend to share it with.

How lonely it was to enjoy the scenery alone!

"Do you want to play Karuta?"

Bang asked as he took out a box of Karuta cards.

Karuta was a kind of card game. There are two sets of cards used in the game, one set (yomifuda) has famous poems written in their entirety on them, and the other set (torifuda) only contains the last sentence. A player in charge of reading would read the poem in yomifuda cards aloud, and then the other players race to find the corresponding torifuda cards from the cards placed on the ground. Whoever found the corresponding card first would win.

Traditionally the cards would have poems from classical Japanese literature, but it seems that the deck Bang used contains lyrics from famous songs instead.

"Oh, it doesn't matter." King watched as Bang neatly placed the torifuda cards on the floor. He fears no one and bows to nobody when it comes to games.

"Get ready to start." Bang silently laughed at King's serious face. King, enjoy the special game of the dojo. You will definitely come to love this place. "Charanko, come and read the cards."

Charanko was in charge of reading and judging, and Bang and King were in charge of quickly finding the cards containing the last sentence. Whoever found the corresponding cards first would get a point.

"King, you have never played any related games before, so our first three games will be considered as practice. After the three games, we will officially start the game. It's a best of five."

"It doesn't matter. I have never lost when playing games!"

King stared at the cards on the floor, memorizing their locations, and pricked up his ears to listen to Charanko reading the cards. He was ready to grab the cards at any time.

Charanko watched King and Bang enter a combat state. He picked a card from the yomifuda deck and read aloud, "What do I need this iron rod for?" (Wukong by Dai Quan)

Oh, found it.

King instantly reacted. His gaze shifted to the card in his memory, and he reached out to grab it.

Suddenly...

Swish!

Bang grasped the card with shocking speed. He grinned and showed the card to King.

The next line of lyrics was recorded on the card: "What then, of my transformation?"

"So fast!"

King was astonished at Bang's speed. Even if he was single for another twenty years, his hands still wouldn't be able to reach that speed!

"King, how is it? To tighten all your nerves, heightening your reflexes..." Bang put away the card; his old and determined face switched into preaching mode, "This is the essence of martial arts!"

"Eh..." King was slightly discouraged. With Bang's speed, he had no hope of victory!

It seems that he must bring out his secret skill. An extraordinary problem requires extraordinary solutions!

He intently stared at Charanko. His right hand was already poised to attack. Charanko put down the card he had just read and randomly pulled out another card from the deck. He held it in his hand, took a look at it, and opened his mouth to read it.

It was at this time!

King narrowed his eyes, and his right hand quickly moved down.

"Little sister sitting on the bow!" (The Love of Boat Trackers by Yu Wenhua and Yin Xiangjie)

Whoosh!

When Charanko finished reading the lyrics, King had already picked up a card.

"What?" Bang exclaimed.

King was faster than his eyes? No, wait, King had grabbed the card in advance. King had already picked up a card before Charanko could read his card. Why? Why would King grab the card in advance? Could it be that he already knew what card was in Charanko's hands? Otherwise, why would he choose a card in advance?

King grinned. Ha, of course, he did not know what lyrics Charanko would read next. However, it did not matter. He cannot win against Bang normally, so he could only depend on his luck.

Obviously, his luck was good.

He revealed the card in his hand, and the lyrics on the card read: "Brother walking on the shore!"

Luck was also a type of strength! From the beginning, I was the Hero of Luck—King!